The Problem:

The Present State of Dentistry

It seems that almost all adult dentistry performed today involves working on teeth that have been drilled and filled early in a patient’s life. In fact, modern dental schools teach the principles and techniques of drilling and filling that were created over a hundred years ago, for the express purpose of the placement of mercury amalgam fillings.

Even though many dentists are now starting to use tooth-colored "composite" or plastic fillings, they still drill apart the tooth as they were taught to do in school, to place the old style amalgam fillings. These composite fillings do not have the structural strength of a natural tooth, and may not hold up when a lot of the strong, natural structurally engineered tooth is drilled away.

These principles of drilling apart the tooth, to this date, haven’t changed very much. And I don’t need to tell you that the drilling of teeth has created much fear, anxiety and aversion to dental care, and research shows that approximately 50 per-cent of the public don’t go to a dentist on a regular basis because of that fear.

A tooth structure is a beautifully engineered mechanism for distributing the forces of biting, chewing and stress down the enamel crystals on the outside, into the inner core of the tooth on the inside, which then dissipates that stress into the fragile bone, so that the structure doesn’t get hurt. Unfortunately, modern American dentistry doesn’t teach these engineering principles, or anything about structural engineering. To this day, dental students are taught to treat a small cavity by drilling it apart to wedge in a large filling. This eventually becomes an even larger filling, which may then lead to a fractured tooth, a root canal procedure or even an extraction.

In the year 2000, the Surgeon General prepared a report entitled Oral Health in America. This report extensively details the risks of whole-body disease from dentistry. It states that the mouth, the largest opening in the body, is the main entry point for all the bacteria, viruses and parasites from the outside environment. These harmful agents can enter the mouth, and collect around the teeth and gums. Now, does it make sense to clean teeth by scraping and cutting the gums and tissue around the teeth, which can then infect the inner blood stream of the body with all these microbes that can circulate and get into every organ of the body? It’s no wonder that much research suggests that many diseases, such as heart disease, stroke, diabetes and many other things are related to the mouth and the oral condition. What if we could practice oral hygiene by using lasers and ultrasonics that would actually disinfect the mouth from all of these things, while thoroughly cleaning the teeth and gums and being much more comfortable for the patient?

Why do we drill apart the structurally engineered tooth and fill it with a material that will leak, fracture, cause more decay, and pain to the patient? Why do we practice the traditional approach of drill, fill and bill dentistry? Drilling leads to fractures, root canals and crowns and literally sets the stage for almost all adult dentistry. What if we could remove only the diseased and damaged area of the tooth, preserve the strength and integrity of the engineered tooth, and practice the modern approach, the “Laser Way?”